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These were the good Islanders, up the ice, carrying the play, possessing and pressuring the puck, creating scoring chances and a two-goal lead.

And then they were just the Islanders, unable to hold a lead, straying from their early-game success by trying to be too cute and then allowing too many odd-man rushes.

And that’s been the problem with this whole season: Too often, there’s no real distinction between which version of the Islanders appears. Too often, as in Monday night’s 4-3 overtime loss at Vancouver, solid starts yield nothing but disappointing results.

So it’s 0-0-2 to start this four-game road trip which continues on Thursday night at Edmonton and 0-4-3 since Feb. 19 as the Islanders do the opposite of making a push for the playoffs.

If only the Islanders could figure out how to be the good Islanders on a consistent 60-minute basis they can be just as good as any of the other wild-card contenders in the Eastern Conference.

The overall trend of this season suggests the Islanders will not be able to figure that out. They have 15 games remaining to prove the critics wrong.

Comment

So looks like Barzal increased his lead by 2 tonight. And if Boeser is out for any time it is basically over not that it isn't already.

When even the trash Vancouver mediacouldn't find a way to spin Boeser having a chance at the Calder, you know it was already over prior to the game. Except for the soft pass turnover at the Vancouver blueline he did once, I thought it one of Barzy's best games. Heck the whole team played well outside of Halak. The loser points aren't helping though. We need to come away with zero more often.

Doug Weight has seen what you all have seen the last seven games — a team that has gotten some of its structure back in the defensive half of the ice but crumbles at the wrong time or gets too fancy at the exact wrong moment.

That was the case again Monday in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Canucks, a game that ended with no one happy.

Not the Isles, of course, who are now winless in seven straight (0-4-3) and have trailed after 40 minutes in only two of those seven.

Weight was bit more colorful in describing his team's inability to press for shots and rebounds after a strong first period.

“Fifteen shots in the first and we just want to screw around, walking it down the pipe, backdoors, BS,” he said. “And we should’ve won the game. We should’ve had a 3-0 lead, but we just stopped shooting. Played fine. They didn’t have much. Same story – they get a chance, goes in. Couple bonehead plays.”

“At the end of the day, good teams win hockey games,” Jordan Eberle said. “Doesn’t matter if they play well, crappy, they find a way, especially down the stretch when you need points… Playoff teams find ways to get two points every night.”

Yup, Jordan. And bad teams find a way to lose, even when they play well. I think we know what this team is.